If you remember (if you do, I commend you on your tremendous memory), all the way back in January, I made a New Year’s resolution to read a classic novel a month. Spoiler alert! It didn’t happen. There were a few months when I started to read a particular book, but just couldn’t get into it, and then didn’t pick another one to replace it.

I did, however, read 9 classics out of the proposed 12, which is 9 more than I would have read without a resolution! There were two months that could be considered cheating so I’ll let you, dear reader, decide if I can include them on my list or not.

  • January – We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. This book is decidedly more modern than the normal classics we think of, but it is a classic nonetheless. I had been wanting to read a Shirley Jackson novel for a while so I picked this one up and I enjoyed it–just in time for the movie to come out!
  • February –Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen. I am a big fan of Jane Austen, so it was high time that I finally read Northanger Abbey. I loved this one as much as I thought I would.
  • March – The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. I really loved this book. This was my first Tolkien novel, and I don’t think I could have picked a better one to start with. Bilbo’s riddle battle with Gollum is one of my favorite scenes of literature ever; I found myself trying to figure the riddles out alongside them.
  • April – The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway. This was the surprise hit for me. Of course, this is widely considered a great novel, but I picked it up thinking it was going to be kind of boring. I am ashamed I ever thought that! I was totally engrossed and finished it in one sitting.
  • May – This is the month I didn’t finish Middlemarch by George Eliot. “Didn’t finish” is a generous statement, because I barely got 10 pages in before I decided that I definitely wasn’t in the right frame of mind to read it.
  • June –  The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. This might be an unpopular opinion, but I didn’t really like this novel. I appreciated Wilde’s usual wit but I didn’t love how it was all put together. Still, I’m glad I can say that I’ve read this.
  • July – I skipped a classic in July. In fact, looking back at the list of books I read this year, I barely read anything in July. Summer just does something to me where I don’t want to do anything except bemoan how hot and humid it is outside.
  • August – Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. This was such a fun book! I thought this was a great summer read. My favorite character was Ben Gunn who asked for cheese after being marooned on the island for three years.
  • September – Another month I didn’t read a classic. In all fairness, I had just started my first semester of grad school, so I felt guilty if I wasn’t doing anything but homework.
  • October – The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving. This is one of the ones that might be cheating, as it is a short story. I listened to this one as an audiobook, and it was the perfect story to listen to right before Halloween.
  • November – Persuasion by Jane Austen. This is the other one that could be considered cheating since I have read this one before. This is my favorite Austen novel and I was in the mood to read it again. Captain Wentworth is so much more swoon-worthy than Mr. Darcy, in my opinion!
  • December – A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. What better book to read for the holidays than this one? I really enjoyed this; growing up, I always thought Dickens was boring. I guess this means I’m an adult now because I saw the humor in it and I found myself looking up the symbolism of the different ghosts.

I have to say, I really liked this challenge. I stuck to this resolution better than I would have with a saving money- or an eating healthier- resolution. With 2019 rapidly approaching, I am starting to make a list of books I want to read next year; I know I want to read a more diverse list of authors. If you’re looking for an easy resolution, this is a great one! It doesn’t even have to be one classic a month. It could be any kind of book. It could just be “In 2019, I want to read at least one book a month.” Like me, it’s okay to skip a month (or even cheat a little). You succeed if you read!

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